I think that everyone who know anything about figure skating wouldn't even consider Lipinski or Baiul to be the greatest skater in history or putting them ahead of Ito or Slutskaya. Ito only for doing 3A+3T slaughters Baiul and Lpinski. Slutskaya, well, so many years years of great career with all her achievments, medals, beating Kwan so many times etc., there's just no comparison. Maybe Irina isn't the best in the history but she certainly, like Ito, deserves to be put in the top 10.

At the time of my comment Lipinski had no votes. Mysteriously 2 popped up out of nowhere only after my comments. Most likely Oksanafan making some new accounts and voting twice for Lipinski.

Don't you say that about somebody you don't know.

I think what it comes down to is that there are not enough choices to accommodate everybodies view. I know when I set up my poll on a different subject, there were only 10 options maximum. That seems a bit restrictive for a poll on greatest ever. 20 or 25 options would be better and would most people happy. Does anybody know how to go about setting a poll with 20 plus options? Is that possible?

These votes always come down to favorites vs. actual, scientific polling... Its improbable to have an accurate view of Greatest Of All Time without criteria, a larger selection of skaters and whatnot. I would also argue that time & space tend to make polls different. If you grow up watching one generation of skaters, its safe to assume your Greatest is going to be different from my Greatest. I also would say that the exclusion of Irina, Janet Lynn, and Midori (insert your own favorite who didn't make the cut) makes this poll a hodgepodge of "who I like" v. "who you like." But as long we can agree that Michelle Kwan is the Greatest. Of. All. Time. I personally have no issues...

Another vote for Midori Ito. It is hard to explain as it's not about her great programs or record - it's simply that she did what no one else could, seems to hang in the air like an angel, and has more charm and grace (and by grace I mean a spiritual quality) than any skater I've ever seen. Maybe that is related to her modesty and diligence. (Things she shares with several other Japanese skaters... one reason I admire so many of them so much.) What can I say, she makes me happy!

Of coure my choice here is the great Karen Magnussen, who was not listed in the voting list. However, for me she will always remain my favorite female skater of all time because I watched her skate for years - many times live - and was so inspired by her to figure skate myself. She was in essence, my Michelle Kwan. It's always tempting to vote on these polls and argue back and forth who is the "greatest" but I think all the ladies here would agree that Sonja Henie deserves the honour as she set the bar in ladies figure skating way back when figures counted and the ice surface itself was even challenging for skaters to hold competitions on. Sometimes they even had to skate outdoors.

Magnussen competed in the era of the greatest compulsory figures skater of all time Trixi Schuba, and the greatest free skater of all time Janet Lynn, whose contrast which led to the change in the scoring system is still talked about to this day. Poor Karen, great skater that she also was, was pretty much overshadowed by those other two, and still is when people look back on that era.

Pangtongfan - Pardon me for Christ sake, but who are you to say "Sorry, but a blip on the radar isn't better than the other so and so scenario"- as if it is a fact? Have you ever heard of "In my opinion"? This whole thread is pointless, you conduct a poll to get peoples's diversified opinions on a question, then you attempt to invalidate the opinions of particular skaters' fans with all this long, drawn-out riga maroll which you call authoritative because of the "there was a lotta this" or a lotta that........ Sorry, but YOU don't get to ask for a poll on greatest this or that. You accuse particular posters of "dreaming of imagined scenarios" and then YOU certify the imaginary scenarios of "being in slumps" or IF this or IF that, then this wouldn't have happened. HAH! How come YOUR imagined scenarios count while the posters' scenarios DON'T count? Stop being so disingenuous! You're not looking for a poll, you're just creating a forum for you to challenge what certain people say about their favorite skaters, if you don't care for those skaters. There ARE a lot of people who consider brief moments of dazzling history (youngest to win, most exciting on one night, etc.) to be just as impressive and long-impacting on the sport of skating as the long careers of consistency and "buildup of resume" type things

Oops, sorry, Oksanafan, I now see that it was you who started this thread, not pangtongfan. Pangtongfan's posts are so long I thought she had started this poll. Still, I stand by my remarks directed at Pangtongfan. I've always thought it was proper just to state your own opinion and not rudely trash the opinions of others. JMO.

LOL just my opinion. The great Peggy Fleming and Dick Button both called Tara a blip on the radar screen during two different telecasts from Nationals. Her own former choreographer Sandra Bezic called her that in an interview a few years back too. It is pretty much a consensus of everyone that it all Tara and even Oksana were.

Of course they were impressive blips. However not too impressive, as do you ever hear anyone talk about either today. And when they do it generally it isnt in a glowing way. It is people talking about how Baiul didnt deserve to win the 94 Olympics and maybe even the 93 Worlds, with only the very occasional person coming to her defense. Or complaints about what many consider Taras often inflated scores, which even the BBC team and the Times in England went off on at the 97 Worlds, and how she began the trend of flutzing, underrotated jumps, and (along with Baiul) teenaged champions who take the money and run into obscurity.